Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging is a growing field in nuclear medicine due to better resolution associated with detecting the two photons produced from the annihilation reaction after positron decay. To date, most PET imaging has been conducted with F-18 FDG and a cyclotron is necessary for F-18 production. The two-hour half-life of F-18 limits the availability of the isotope to hospitals with a cyclotron or in close proximity to one.
A 68Ga generator could be prepared at any hospital or research laboratory and allow 68Ga to be produced when desired over periods of months. In the process of developing 68Ga imaging agents, in vivo studies with rats have used 15-50 microcuries (μCi) of 68Ga per rat and 25-29 millicurie (mCi) per patient. 68Ga imaging compounds could be used for staging of disease, prediction of therapeutic response, monitoring tumor response to treatment and for diagnosis of diseases. The availability of a 68Ga generator will allow for more research on new radiopharmaceuticals for imaging with 68Ga and propagate the need for more hospitals to purchase the generator system.